For rental agent, her family is proof

by lauren stanforth Staff writer

Published 1:00 am, Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Residents of Shady Lane Apartments gather during a press conference Monday, July 26, 2010, across the street from Shady Lane Apartments in Glenville. Employees and residents held the press conference to speak out against a recent state Attorney General's lawsuit that claims the complex discriminated against certain groups of people wanting to live there. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Residents of Shady Lane Apartments gather during a press conference...

Deana Tope, far right, the rental agent at Shady Lane Apartments in Glenville, addresses those gathered Monday, July 26, 2010, to speak out against a recent state Attorney General's lawsuit that claims the complex discriminated against certain groups of people wanting to live there. With Tope are her husband, Jerome Gibson, second from right, and their children, from left, Brendon Owens, 15; Isiah Gibson, 7; Tiara Gibson, 14; Darrian Gibson, 16; and Kenya Gibson, 6. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

A view of Shady Lane Apartments in Glenville. Employees and residents held the press conference on Monday, July 25, 2010, to speak out against a recent state Attorney General's lawsuit that claims the complex discriminated against certain groups of people wanting to live there. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

GLENVILLE -- Deana Tope's best defense against a discrimination lawsuit required few words.

At a press conference Monday, the rental agent for Shady Lane Apartments introduced her husband, who is black, and their five children. Tope and Shady Lane owners have been accused by the state attorney general's office of treating black applicants and those with children differently from other prospective renters.

Often near tears, Tope described how she's been subjected to discrimination in the past when people have made racist comments to her about her children.

"How could you believe these accusations to be true?" Tope said at the gathering attended by about 200 people.

Tope and Shady Lane owner Socha Management Inc. invited the media to hear their response to the lawsuit filed July 6 in federal court.

The suit alleges it has taped conversations between Tope and people posing as renters that show she and her employer violated federal and state housing and civil rights laws.

The attorney general's office said it has three audio recordings of incidents from 2009 in which Tope allegedly told black applicants, who were working undercover, that they had to fill out an application or make an appointment to look at an apartment. But when a white undercover applicant arrived about an hour later, Tope showed the applicant rental unit immediately.

The lawsuit also claims Tope did the same thing when dealing with people posing as renters who said they had children.

But Socha called it "shocking and repugnant" and said Cuomo was targeting Shady Lane to advance his campaign for gain for governor. Shady Lane attorney John Dowd said he didn't know why the Democratic candidate would use the lawsuit to appeal to voters.

Shady Lane renters got letters in their mailboxes informing them of Monday's press conference near the 444-unit complex off Saratoga Road.

The crowd was mostly white and of retirement age. Dowd responded to a press inquiry about the crowd's lack of diversity, saying Shady Lane has residents of all races and ages.

"I can't imagine what type of discrimination," said Shady Lane resident Desdemona Johnson, 77, a black resident who has lived there for five years. "I just don't understand what's going on."

In a response filed Monday in U.S. District Court, Shady Lane denies the allegations, and says it based its treatment of the applicants on false information they provided about income and employment. The court filing provided no details.

Both Cuomo's office and the lawyer for the business said Shady Lane was picked at random in the investigation, which also led to allegations filed in federal court in Brooklyn against two apartment complexes there.

Linda Reinhart, 67, who has lived at Shady Lane for 14 years, said she can understand if a privately owned company used some standards to weed out applications. But she does not believe Shady Lane discriminates.

Regarding the attorney general, she said, "I was going to vote for him, but now I don't know."